Tuesday, 11 April 2017

by Sam FernesIn
May 2014, the then Chair of the Manchester and District branch of the Classical
Association, David Langslow, called an extraordinary meeting, asking members
and interested parties to address a single, fundamental question: “What kind of
organisation do we want to be?” A desire to support Classics in an outward-facing
and meaningful way was immediately obvious, and this energetic response would
prove to have a galvanising effect …

With
kind support from the national charity Classics for All, the branch went into
partnership with the University of Manchester, together with a number of brave
schools which were willing to listen to the exciting opportunities held out by
this small band of classicists. The premise of the project was that
branch members, academics, students, and other volunteers would take Latin
classes into state schools which had no previous experience of the language, thereby
offering pupils the linguistic skills that result from learning Latin.
Tutors would receive training before their placements and full support from an
experienced mentor throughout. From the first, the watchword of the
project was to be Sustainability: the aim was to introduce Latin in such a way
that, by the start of year three, participating schools would have assumed
responsibility for its provision, with ongoing support from the project.
Teachers would be taught enough Latin over the course of two years to ensure
that they could take Latin classes themselves the following year. And everybody involved would have fun!

Taking
the project from concept to sustainable reality remains the most challenging
aspect. Enrolling schools which were
prepared to take the step of offering Latin to their students, a subject that
most had never considered an option, was a relatively easy first step. The
project attracted immediate interest from nine local schools, including
Mauldeth Road Primary School, Burnage Academy for Boys and Levenshulme High
School, all of which embraced the opportunity whole-heartedly. The range and
breadth of interested and engaged tutors was also a real boon. Many of the
tutors were students from the University of Manchester, some of whom have since
gone on to pursue careers in teaching Classics, but the project has also been
fortunate enough to attract capable enthusiasts from outside the university.

In
September 2016 the project reached the crucial halfway point of its initial
two-year grant. At that stage, ten schools were involved, five primary and five
secondary. With one partner school now entering its pupils for Latin GCSE,
and with new schools still seeking to become involved, this is an exciting time
for Classics in the North West. The groundwork is also being laid to meet
a long-term ambition, that of introducing the North’s first ever PGCE in Classics,
even if much work remains before that goal can be accomplished.

The branch would like to thank all tutors for their generosity of
time and spirit, all teachers and pupils involved for their willing engagement,
and of course the project’s benefactors, Classics for All.

Sam Fernes is a PhD student in
the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Manchester,
and is Secretary of the CA’s Manchester and District branch.

Monday, 3 April 2017

This is based on the latest
Bookseller’s Buyer’s Guide which
lists the new books which publishers think will be of interest to the general
reader (plus some others called in by your editor).

We start with three major works
of literary fiction. Natalie Haynes won acclaim for The Amber Fury and follows this with The Children of Jocasta, the Oedipus
stories as seen by Jocasta and Ismene, out in May. Colm
Toibin has House of Names, a
version of the Oresteia, as seen by Clytemnestra, due here in May. Emily
Hauser, who made a notable debut with For
the Most Beautiful, the Trojan War as seen by Briseis and Chryseis, follows
this with For the Winner, the story
of Jason and the Argonauts, as seen by Atalanta, out in June.

Elsewhere, we note the latest Lindsey Davis – The Third Nero (April), Margaret
George – The Confessions of Young
Nero (March), Robert Fabbri – Arminius: the Limits of Empire, Adrian Goldsworthy – Vindolanda (starting a new series, due
June), Anthony Riches – Betrayal: The Centurions I (Galba 68AD),
Ian Ross – The Mask of Command (Aurelius Castus at the time of Constantine). And a re-issue of a rarity – Kenneth Benton’s Death on the Appian Way, from 1974.

The highlighted work of
non-fiction is Praetorian: The Rise and
Fall of Rome’s Imperial Bodyguard by Guy
de la Bédoyère, not an academic, but long a member of Time Team and more
recently a school-teacher. It has been widely (and favourably) reviewed. Two
successes of 2016 – Tim Whitmarsh’s Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient
World and Daisy Dunn’s Catullus’ Bedspread: The Life of Rome’s Most
Erotic Poet – are now out in paperback.

Other scholarly works include Tacitus by Victoria Emma Pagán in the Understanding Classics
series, Science Writing in Greco-Roman
Antiquity by Liba Taub, Politics in the Roman Republic by Henrik Mouritsen, The Ancient Greek Farmstead by Maeve
McHugh, Athens Burning (the
Persian invasion)by Robert Garland, Hypatia by Edward J Watts
in the Women in Antiquity series, The
Last Pagan Emperor (Julian)by H C Teitler, and The Classical Art of Command by
Joseph Roisman.

New texts and translations
include Searching for Sappho –
biography and translation – by Philip
Freeman, in paperback in May, a new version of Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days by Kimberley Johnson, Plutarch’s
The Age of Caesar: Five Roman Lives, edited by James Romm, and a new commentary on Aeneid Book 3 by Stephen Heyworth and James Morwood.There
is also a new Pocket Museum series from Thames and Hudson – Ancient Greece by David Michael Smith, Ancient
Rome by Virginia Campbell – each
with 200 illustrated artefacts in one place, with full historical context and
notes. For its part, the British
Museum offers Treasures of Ancient Greece
- 20 colourful postcards to pull out and send.

In the category “erudite
entertainment”, we note The Book of Greek
and Roman Folktales, Legends and Myths, edited by William Hansen, nearly 400 stories, lavishly illustrated, A Cabinet of Ancient Medical Curiosities
by J C McKeown, strange tales,
surprising facts, ancient medical texts rarely translated – and, something
really populist, You Win or You Die: The
Ancient World of Game of Thrones by Ayelet
Haimson Lushkov, the ancient history behind the George R Martin novels.

Among works for children, we see Who Let the Gods Out? By Maz Evans, Death in the Arena by Caroline
Lawrence, The Hidden Oracle and The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan, The Adventures of Hermes (and other works) by Murielle Szac (a big seller in France) and The Mark of the Cyclops, adventure in Ancient Greece, by Saviour Pirotta.

And 28 October 2017 is the date
for the next Heffers Classics Forum.

Philip
Hooker is the Hon. Treasurer of the Classical Association, and writes regularly
for the CA Blog on Classics in the Media.